A Friend Indeed
by in-blo0m
Summary: Three years after the Mew Mews defeat Deep Blue, 16 year old Ichigo has changed. She cut off all ties with The Mew Mews and Aoyama, falling into a rough crowd whose enthusiasm for drugs and alcohol have rubbed off on Ichigo. Turning into a shallow shell of a person who cares for nothing and no one, maybe she just needs a certain alien to snap her out of it. Kish x Ichigo
1. Introduction

**A Friend Indeed**

_Hey, everyone! It's been a reaaaallly long time since I've attempted an on-going fanfiction, and it's the first I've published on this account! Anyway, I decided to go in a direction where Tokyo Mew Mew usually doesn't go. Should be fun, enjoy!_

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**Introduction; Ichigo's POV 3 years later**

It's been 3 years since I've saved the Earth, 3 years since I've led the Mew Mews head on into the battle with Deep Blue. I am now 16 years old; it sounds so different from 13, so much more mature and yet not so much. I'm aware of my youth, and intend to use it selfishly.

Most people who knew me those precious preteen years I spent fighting aliens, probably wouldn't recognize me anymore. Gone are my pigtails and hair ribbons, gone is my cheerful disposition and wasteful fretting over that idiot Aoyama.

I haven't spoken to the other Mew Mews in almost 2 years. I don't remember exactly what happened, I think they all became angry at me. Angry with the fact that I started hanging with a new crowd, a new crowd that came with a set of unfamiliar yet exciting sense of morality.

Morality in the sense that they did whatever they wanted, when they wanted. A terrain I was too afraid to cross alone, but they offered to hold my hand in each step of the journey into their world.

With them, it was gradual. Weed was first. Then I wanted more, a stronger high. Ecstasy was next, along with cocaine. I have to say I prefer ecstasy, cocaine makes me too erratic, too irrational. To top it all off, the come down is absolutely awful. It's like the whole weight of the world is crashing into every organ of your body, and you have no idea how to make it stop.

I like Xanax too, especially after doing ecstasy for a while. The tranquility, the sense of calm I feel is incredibly invigorating. None of the Mew Mews, Aoyama, or my bosses noticed at first. I hid it pretty well, especially when it came to working in the café.

Unfortunately, I was getting addicted to the feeling all of these substances brought to me, although not necessarily to the drugs themselves. At least not yet.

I needed to constantly feel like I could take on the world. Ironically, I couldn't feel this way with scientific superpowers in my genes. Nothing like what these drugs could do to my psyche.

Ryou was the first to notice; I came to the café to work high on ecstasy and was acting way too friendly towards him. He is a handsome fellow, as much as I try to deny it. It's those intense blue eyes and the way he would just pissed me off, was really what drove me wild.

I vaguely remembered him demanding what had gotten into me, and Mint finding the bottle of ecstasy tablets in my work uniform pocket. God, I was an idiot to leave them there. Everyone just made such a big fuss, but like I said before, my memory of that day is pretty fuzzy. Eventually, I just stopped going to work, stopped going to the café.

Aoyama started to notice that I stopped texting and calling him, lied about my whereabouts consistently, and just basically started to not give two shits about him. Poor little Aoyama-kun's ego couldn't handle the fact that his previous adoring girlfriend moved on to other interests besides him. So he broke it off with me.

Cool, you saved me the trouble.

As far as I could see, the world was already saved, why did I need to go to The Café anymore? Why go when I could get high instead? They didn't need me anymore, and I really didn't feel like I needed them anymore. I found new friends, new interests; for the first time in years, I was living for myself again. And I didn't think that routine would change, until he abruptly came back to Earth, back into my life like a long forgotten memory.

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_Well, here it is! More details about Ichigo's current life and friends will become clear in the next chapter! I just thought it would be interesting to gain Ichigo's point of view first. Yes, she is a little out of character, but remember, people can change in a good three years, and all those drugs she's using can definitely warp her personality. So what do you guys think? Should I continue? Please leave your input in a review! :D Anonymous reviews accepted!_


	2. Chapter 1

_Hi, again! Thank you so much for all of the kind reviews! It really makes a difference to receive any sort of criticism, positive or negative (as long as its constructive)! By the way, I'm starting this chapter during a time when I sooo should not be writing. But gah, I need a break, I just killed off an 8 page research paper. Woohoo! Anyway, please enjoy the first official chapter!_

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_A Friend Indeed_

_By: in-blo0m_

_Ship: Kish & Ichigo (from Tokyo Mew Mew)_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing contained in this story except Ichigo's dead beat group of friends xD_

"Say, Ichigo! How long are you gonna hog that bong?!" 20 year old Hiro Utso nagged, slumping against the solid white wall in Ichigo's room. "Freakin' eager beaver **(1)**!"

Ichigo took one last inhale, removed the bright blue stem of the bong, and passed it dramatically to her friend with a roll of her big grey eyes. She kept her mouth shut, struggling to keep the smoke inside of her lungs, letting the substance take over her entire system. Ironic that Hiro should call her an Eager Beaver, when really, he is the one people usually have to nag in order to hurry up and finish his hits.

Ichigo was pretty amazed that she could inhale this much weed without even letting out a single cough.

"Jeez, Ichigo! How in the world are you not coughing your lungs out?" Aya asked in a rather dreamy tone, mimicking Ichigo's thoughts right on the dot. Her dreamy tone could be blamed on the amounts of weed the group has been smoking for the past several hours or so. "Have to say, I'm pretty impressed over here."

With a slight smirk, Ichigo finally exhaled the smoke, giving Aya a wink. "Aya, I'm shocked you would even ask! I learned from the best, how dare you question my abilities!"

This retort resulted in a laugh of approval from Aya, tossing her long blonde hair backwards, making it way more messy than it was before. Aya was a jovial soul, who was Ichigo's first friend in this intimate circle of deadbeats. A transfer student who came at the end of Ichigo's last year, they became inseparable, bonding over a mutual love of sweets and shoujo manga.

However, it soon became clear that these two girls were on opposite sides of the spectrum when it came to life experience. Unsure what to think, Ichigo would listen to Aya as she would report on her drug, sex, and booze escapades. At first, these stories would shock her, but shock soon turned into fascination. This fascination soon turned into an unrestrained curiosity.

Ichigo wanted to be a part of this seemingly fast paced life that Aya had.

With small almond shaped brown eyes, and a tiny ski jump nose, Aya always reminded Ichigo of a rabbit. In fact, she would not be the least bit surprised if Aya suddenly popped out bunny ears and told Ichigo she had been a secret Mew Mew all along. She always seemed to have lines underneath her eyes due to lack of sleep, as well as an evident figure of her regular cigarette and weed smoking. Her fashion sense could be what many considered "grunge" which eventually rubbed off on Ichigo.

Aya's choice articles of clothing included torn denim vests, tights with various holes, combat boots, and vintage sweaters and band tshirts that Ichigo had never even heard of. Her color of choice was mainly black, although she would add splashes of random colors in her accessories; Aya was particularly fond of pastels.

Hiro was Aya's older brother, and attractive older brother at that. With tan skin and shaggy brown hair, Hiro could be called the stereotypical "surfer dude", especially with his love of the sport and stoner habits. He had the exact same eyes as his younger sister, although he did have a more prominent nose. Ichigo and him have hooked up many a times in the past, most of the occasions being that they were rolling **(2) **or insanely drunk.

Ichigo didn't necessarily mind, although a part of her wished that she and him could become something more. At first anyway. But she learned what their hookups meant to Hiro and just grew to accept it: nothing.

The other people present in their circle included Rita, Koto, and Fuma.

Koto and Rita were identical twins; Ichigo had trouble telling them apart at first, but when Rita shaved off her thick black curly locks on one side, it made things considerably easier. Koto's hair was shoulder length and usually kept in a French braid. Both had bright blue eyes that always seemed to contain some sort of secret.

Fuma was Koto's boyfriend, but Ichigo really knew nothing about him. All she knew was that he usually had all sorts of drugs on him. According to Rita, he was a notorious dealer. At 21, he also provided the group with alcohol**.**

"I could go for a huge ass pizza right now," Rita mumbled irrelevantly, her usual bulbous eyes dull and bloodshot due to the weed. "A fuckin 12 inch pizza, and I would devour without any of you motherfuckers."

"What kind of friend are you?!" Hiro snarled after exhaling the weed and passing the bong to a ever silent Fuma. "And that's a sack of horseshit, since you can barely eat three pieces of a regular pizza."

Giggling in a rather high pitch, Ichigo threw her arms in the arm.

"My friends, what does it matter? If Rita wants to have her stomach explode from all that food, why don't we let her?"

"More weed for us anyway," Koto sneered, giving her twin sister a jab in the ribs. "Love ya, Rita."

Everyone in the circle laughed, a sound of unity and tranquility sounding throughout the room. However, this sense of drugged bliss was quickly halted by the rush and sound of an open door.

Ichigo's parents had come home early from their dinner and movie date; make that 3 hours early. They weren't aware of Ichigo's little get together or the purpose of it, but Ichigo's father picked up fairly quick.

"What the hell is this?! Get out of my house! All of you!" Ichigo's father roared, a severe look of rage prevalent. "OUT! NOW!"

Without a single word, but plenty of exchanged looks of silent horror, one by one, each of Ichigo's friends got up and left the room. Aya was the only one who bothered to take one last look at Ichigo, a sincere apology silently present across her face.

Ichigo returned the look with a quick nod.

_It's not your fault, Aya-chan. It's not like you knew when my parents were coming home. _

She appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Shit, she didn't even have time to hide the booze, let alone the stupid bong that was in the middle of the floor for all to see.

After everyone left, Mr. Momomiya's newfound target was his only bewildered daughter, who was still sitting slumped against the wall .She was clearly still high as a kite.

"Care to explain yourself, young lady?!" Mr. Momomiya snarled.

"Not particularly," Ichigo awnsered casually as she searched her the pockets in her black denim shorts for a cigarette.

"Ichigo, dear," Ms. Momomiya gently intervened, pressing a firm grip on Mr. Momomiya's arm to keep him in line. "We have told you before about how we feel about your….new friends. "

"NOT TO MENTION THE NEW HABITS YOU'VE ACQUIRED! REAL CLASSY INDEED!" Mr. Momomiya, unlike his wife, could not take the patient and gentle approach when it came to handling his daughter.

Ichigo silently lit up her cigarette in response.

"Ichigo! Do not be so disrespectful to us!" Ms. Momomiya interjected, clearly heartbroken. "We have no idea what has gotten into you this past year!"

Ichigo sighed, exhaling the smoke. "I mean, I have no idea why you're so upset. The windows open…"

"OH, SO YOU DEADBEATS CAN SMOKE YOUR WEED?!" Mr. Momomiya roared, pointing an accusing finger towards the center of the room. Indeed, Hiro left behind his bright blue bong, too afraid to carry it out and claim it as his.

Ichigo swallowed, trying to keep her composure. This isn't the first time her parents have caught her doing drugs, but every time, it was the same damn reaction. Get mad, ground her, but nothing ever really changed. They all knew that. Which is why Ms. Momomiya saw it useless to get angry at Ichigo, hoping Ichigo's behavior was simply a phase; she was truly at a loss when it came to handling Ichigo.

However, she knew how difficult growing up can be, and again, saw no use in getting angry or hostile.

Her father, however, could not let it pass.

"HOW MANY DAMN TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO SUCH THINGS UNDER MY ROOF?! YOU'RE GROUNDING HAS BEEN EXTENDED YOUNG LADY! IN FACT…."

Mr. Momomiya released himself from his wife's gentle, but firm grip to snatch the fresh cigarette out of Ichigo's mouth and slapped her across the face.

"Shintaro!" Mrs. Momomiya gasped, both of her hands quickly covering her mouth in shock. Her husband has never struck anybody before, let alone his own daughter.

Ichigo, however, said nothing. She didn't even cry out.

"If I ever catch you doing anything like this ever again, you'll get more than just a smack," Mr. Momomiya snarled turning on his heel. "Come on, Sakura."

Mrs. Momomiya, with tears forming in her big bright eyes, had no choice but to leave her daughter by herself, as much as it pained her.

After the door behind them finally closed, Ichigo gingerly touched her right cheek with her fingertips. The place where her father slapped her was still red, hot, and pulsating. She couldn't help but wince at the smallest touch.

"Well…that's a first." Ichigo mumbled to herself, hugging her knees closely to her chest. But it only took a few more seconds before the first tear fell from her eyes.

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_Aaaahh! That was a little intense, yah? Sorry this chapter was a little boring, I figured yall needed an idea who her friends were and an inside look into Ichigo's life. Hah. Anyway, I really hoped yall enjoyed the chapter, please leave me a review to give me your thoughts!_

**(1)- Eager Beaver is slang when somebody hogs either a bong or joint, or someone who keeps begging to take a hit when its nowhere close to their turn**

**(2)- Rolling is a term when someone is high off ecstasy**


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